Candlewicks
In recent years, scented candles have become popular. It's hard to go into
any home and NOT find them burning. The "flavors" range anywhere from tropical
rain forest, to home-made bread. It is as if the new American saying is "Mom,
home and Apple Pie Candles."
Not long ago, I decided to join the rest of the world, and so I started looking
for just the right smell to greet people when they came to visit. My sisters
seemed partial to floral and fruit fragrances, but that wasn't quite the first
impression I wanted my home to make.
Since the kitchen is the first area my back-door company enters, I thought it
only fitting to add to the ambiance. In my childhood, this was where my
grandmother turned out tables full of that great country cookin'. Now that I no
longer have a big family to cook for, the oven doesn't get used much anymore. I
decided that I wanted a ''food'' candle.
I purchased what they call a tart burner, with a tiny, tart-shaped,
pumpkin-scented, wickless candles that smelled absolutely scrumptious as they
melted. The Bible study group salivated as they came in one Wednesday night,
thinking that I was serving fresh-baked pies... until they discovered, "it's
only a candle!"
Over the Christmas holiday, I recently purchased a "granny candle" on one of my
shopping trips. It is the kind that fills a quart mason jar, and smells
like "somethin' lovin' from the oven." This particular one smelled like
chocolate nut brownie.
Of course, I had to buy one of those gas utility lighters, as it would be
impossible to hold a match down inside a quart jar once the candle had burned
down. I hurried home and couldn't wait until I got it lit.
I was quite pleased with the yummy smell that greeted me each time I entered the
kitchen, and at how the wax burned evenly, rather than forming a crater around
the wick and the high ridge build-up around the sides of the container (don'tcha
just hate that?!).
I would light the candle when I'd come home and just breathe in that delicious
aroma of homemade brownies and think of all the calories I was saving (it was
like having your cake... and having your cake... and having your cake...).
One evening as I was about to light the candle once again, "blessing" that child
(adult) proof safety trigger, I noticed that the upper third and rim of the jar
was blackened from smoke. Grabbing a napkin, I began wiping out the smudge,
while turning the jar around. In mid-turn, I noticed instructions pasted to the
bottom of the jar. They listed the usual warnings: keep out of the reach of
children, keep away from flammable objects, do not leave unattended, etc., and
lastly, keep the wick trimmed.
There it was: another one of those unexpected object lessons that God
drops into our everyday lives. They are so subtle that if we weren't familiar
with the scripture, we would miss them altogether. (Another reason to read the
Bible!)
The last instruction struck a chord. I had read it before, but from a higher
source than a candle maker... He was a church builder. He had formed and
fashioned each stone by hand and breathed life into them. He also referred to
them as bearers of Light. In a sense, I guess He was a candle maker too. His
name is Jesus, as you've probably realized, and that "familiar chord" is found
in Matthew 25:7, where the Christ is talking about His secret return for His
Bride/Church, which we call the Rapture.
The Jewish wedding custom was obvious to His listeners. They knew that it was an
orchestrated "kidnapping" of the bride by the groom and his friends, sometime
within a year after the betrothal.
As we read the passage in Mathew 25:6, we see where Jesus is talking about being
prepared for the groom's (HIS) coming. The bride and her attendants evidently
would spend each night together at the bride's parents' home as the wedding drew
near, much like an extended slumber party.
The attendants would go back to their various homes in the morning and return to
the bride's house each evening, since the custom was for the groom to come in
the middle of the night, to "steal" his bride.
In Matthew 25:1-13, Jesus told them a parable of the ten virgins (attendants).
Five were wise, but five were foolish. They needed to have their lamps ready,
since there were no streetlights back then, and this small band would have to
have lamplight to make their way through the dark stony streets, to the wedding.
The maidens were to keep oil in their lamps at all times, and their wicks
trimmed!
The candle jar instructions said to keep the wick trimmed to 1/4 inch. I
realized that that was why the upper portion of the jar had blackened; I had not
kept the wick cut back.
As Christians, we are called to be the light to a darkened world (Matthew 5:14
). If we don't keep our wicks cut back, we can't give off much light. We
must trim off the soot, or carbon (carnality) will build up from our wicks.
We have to present clean and godly lives before the world. Our character must
not allow our sinful nature to dim our testimonies. We certainly are not
perfect creatures, as we define "perfect:" "without flaws," but our
Father encourages us to STRIVE for perfection (Matthew 5:48). His definition of
the word "perfect" is "complete or mature" (James 1:4, NIV). Our spirit-man
within us is already perfect, because that is where God lives in us, and yes,
that part of us is without flaw.
The Holy Spirit made His abode within us when we invited Him to come into our
hearts, and our CORE is joined up with the almighty God Himself. We have His
perfect DNA (Divine Nature Attributes), as it were.
The wick-trimming part comes in the soul-man area of our being. It is in the
soul, which is our basic personality, that God said we have to STRIVE to be
perfect, or "complete and mature."
The sin nature is present in every human being. We can spend a lifetime
trying to allow the Spirit part of us to dominate that old carnal nature that
gets us into so much trouble if it goes unchecked.
It takes time to allow Christ to form in our soul. It may take years to
overcome bad habits, to develop patience, and to begin to project the true Light
of the Holy Spirit inside us. Our natural nature is an enemy of godliness. Our
container can get sooty, and people may call us hypocrites! We have to trim the
flesh nature back to a quarter of an inch, so that those around us can see
Christ burn brightly from within.
God gave us His Holy Word to teach us how to walk in this life, how to trim our
wicks so all men can see Him alive on this earth today. WE are His containers!
Jesus is coming for His Bride very soon. It is important that we are ready for
His appearing. We must have oil in our lamps and keep our wicks trimmed. His
signs are everywhere, so that we cannot possibly miss His return.
HE EVEN HAS THEM STAMPED ON THE BOTTOM OF A CANDLE JAR!
"...Even so, come Lord Jesus!" (Revelation 22:20)
Have a happy and blessed New Year, dear friends!
Rev. C. L. Moser -- January, 2005
The Home Place Mission had a former site and the time came where we had to switch web site hosts. Our email had to be changed as well. In transferring the articles over, every effort was made to correct any inferences to the old email address (the new one is on the home page). Also, all articles containing hyper links were needing updated too. Please forgive us if some things may have been overlooked. Because this page is in a blog format, the date we transferred each article over is what shows under the title when opened. The correct date each article was written is beside the title under the category column. We apologize for the blog format, as it is not as "user-friendly" as our old site but we do hope you find the articles encouraging and are blessed by the insights shared! Thank you for reading!
